{"id":152,"date":"2013-03-06T15:35:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-06T20:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oshetablogs.wordpress.com\/2013\/03\/06\/misanthrope-with-a-mocha"},"modified":"2013-03-06T15:35:00","modified_gmt":"2013-03-06T20:35:00","slug":"misanthrope-with-a-mocha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/shalominthecity\/2013\/03\/misanthrope-with-a-mocha\/","title":{"rendered":"Misanthrope with a Mocha"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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I\u2019m at Starbucks working on Third Way Womanhood part four and my feet are cold.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
They were cold when I left the house; they were cold on the drive here to caffeine heaven; and they\u2019re cold as I sit here sipping my latte fifty feet from the constantly opened door of this busy coffee shop.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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I\u2019m cold and irritated and close to miserable because dang it<\/i>, this latte should be working it\u2019s way down to my toes and warming me up. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It just \u2018aint doing it.\u00a0 And so, I\u2019m cold.\u00a0 My nose is running. My nose is stuffy. \u00a0(wha-huh) I\u2019m shaking my propped up legs on a chair to get my (supposedly thickened) blood flowing and to top it all off, I\u2019m regretting the five dollars I spent<\/s> wasted on a hot coffee.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
So I\u2019m mentally taking it out on people.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I\u2019m scowling at every person who comes in for their morning jolt because they keep letting the warm air out and the cold air in. Hello people, I\u2019m cooooold!<\/i> I\u2019m resenting every other person who dressed appropriately, darn you with your gloves, thick coat, and comfy looking rain boots.<\/i>\u00a0 I\u2019m hoping that the man next to me will finish his newspaper and coffee soon, so I can move to his warmer, further from the door table. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I\u2019m a Misanthrope with a Mocha.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
And it\u2019s entirely fault.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I should have put on a pair of warm socks with my fleece-lined Privo ballet flats and grabbed a thicker sweater, but I\u2019m stubborn .\u00a0 I\u2019m convinced I can handle it because my blood has \u201cthickened\u201d in the past seven years of living in New England and I\u2019m clinging to my own devices\u2014 lattes and fleece lined ballet flats. I relied on them to keep me warm and comfortable while I work, but they\u2019ve only delivered in giving me a false sense of security.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This reliance on ability to face the cold without proper covering of warm socks and a thicker sweater is not unlike my reliance on my abilities and devices to plant this church without the covering of prayer. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It makes sense that I tend to neglect prayer and rely on my own strength.\u00a0 I love being that impressively resourceful chick who makes you shake your head and wonder \u201chow does she do it?\u201d, \u00a0so my first inclination when faced with a challenge is to look that bad boy in the face and say, \u201cyou will not best me\u201d. \u00a0Then I call upon my \u201cdevices\u201d to get the job done.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I start Google docs and Facebook groups.\u00a0 I schmooze, send emails, cajole, and pitch until I get what I want. I read books and blogs, make plans and strategies, and organize events.\u00a0 Oh events! How I love to throw a big party where everyone can see the fruits of my challenge-besting labor. It\u2019s exhilarating. It\u2019s satisfying. It\u2019s joyfully egotistical.\u00a0 It\u2019s sinful.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
That\u2019s how this church plant feels at times; another challenge of my abilities, another way to utilize devices in order to get the gratifying head shakes of astonishment, another bad boy to look into it\u2019s face and say, \u201cyou will not best me.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But like my fleece-lined ballet flats and my (now tepid) latte these \u201cget it done\u201d devices have given me a false sense of security.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Oh it\u2019s great in the moment when I\u2019m planning, emailing, schmoosing, or pitching, but when I\u2019m alone I succumb to the bitter chill of insecurity leaving me miserable and anxious.\u00a0<\/span>

<\/span>This is the true testimony of my devices: they are merely props unless they are infused with the power of God invited through prayer.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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And church planting requires more than mere props.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>

<\/span>We\u2019re called by God to create something out of nothing, reflecting the creative and the visionary aspects of his character. A high calling that requires divine communion and encouragement through prayer, not devices of human resourcefulness.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I\u2019m now determined in this Starbucks.\u00a0 First to go home and get some socks on, geeze!<\/i>But then, to continually pray for New City Covenant Church, invite others to join me to pray regularly and to be more transparent about our needs so that our prayers will weave a tapestry of faith and hope over us.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This tapestry is what wi\n

ll keep us warm and help us withstand the \u201celements\u201d of this challenge: the cold isolation of creating a new community, the breeze of insecurity when someone doesn\u2019t quite get our vision, the draft of discouragement when things don\u2019t fall into place as they should.\u00a0<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I\u2019m also determined to not trust in my own devices; fleece-lined ballet slippers, lattes, adaptability, strategies, events, Google and the like.\u00a0 I\u2019d rather have the security of warm socks, cozy sweaters, acknowledgement of my limitations, God breathed direction, and the warmth found in His presence.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Maybe this discomfort in Starbucks is God ordained because it\u2019s reminded me to rely on<\/span>\u00a0Him my solid rock, my refuge from the storm, my ever present help (even if I think I can do it on my own) to help us plant this church.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>

<\/span>Oh Lord, let my folly end here with bare feet and thin sweaters.\u00a0 Let me pray without ceasing, lean not unto my own understanding, and plan my course, stepping only where you tell me to.<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

<\/i><\/div>\n
Let me rely on your direction and not my devices. Amen and amen.<\/i><\/span>

<\/span>Now\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Off to put some darn socks on,<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Scripture references:<\/span>
Psalm 46:1<\/a><\/span>
Isaiah 25:4<\/span><\/a>
1 Thessalonians 5:17<\/span><\/a>
Proverbs 3:5-6<\/a><\/span>
Proverbs \u00a016:9<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n


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